I received this from NetGalley and finished it a while back but before I could do my review, my mother was in her last illness and passed away so I have been dealing with that as well as the funeral and being present for my dad. I finally got this done and am posting it today.

The Exorcist came out when I was in middle school so I didn’t get the theatrical experience with the movie but did get to see it when I was older. I did read the book while I was still in middle school. Our theaters in my town were very strict in not admitting anyone under 17 without a parent and my mom didn’t care what I read but she was not going to go with me to see that. My dad wasn’t a film fan, and in fact, I only ever recall him going to one movie in my life. I threw up cheese popcorn and I think that did it for him.

I was interested in this book to find out more information about William Peter Blatty’s inspiration for the book as well as the journey to get this film made. The author did not disappoint. Meticulous research went into this thorough volume. I enjoyed it immensely. Interesting information was in every chapter and the way Blatty fought for his vision was admirable.

I learned a lot about the man and how strongly he believed in this story and wanted it told in the way he imagined it. He never sold out his characters or how he saw the crux of his story. His vision was to focus on the priest’s crisis of faith. In his mind, the story was more about the priest than the possessed child.

At the end of each chapter was a side note section that gave even more insider information and insight. That additional information was much appreciated by this reader as it fleshed out more details than might have fit seamlessly in the flow of the chapter.

The best parts of the book dealt with the original story. The author also fully explored all of the sequels and the nuances of them. As well, he described the ways they worked as sequels and the ways they didn’t. These sections were as meticulously researched as the parts about the book itself and the film. I have to confess I didn’t enjoy the parts about the sequels as much (some of them I hadn’t seen and thus, I appreciated the plot synopses by the author). If you’re a film buff, a fan of The Exorcist and all its permutations, or if you just like Hollywood stories about making of films and the politics and machinations of getting a book to the screen, this is an excellent work to read. The author is to be commended for all the research he did and kudos to him for the insider information he was able to obtain from all the interviews he conducted.  Highly recommend this for lovers of the book, film and/or the sequels